Sunday, January 29, 2017

Wake-up Calls

Full Bloom 27January 29, 2017I heard the peepers. That was not an illusion,but they’re silent now, back in their muddyhomes, waiting for Arctic blasts to dissipateand sun to warm the earth again, windlessdays to prevail, crocuses to open lavenderpetals, daffodils to risk their leaves.More things scare me now. I wake at 4 a.m.I must do what I don’t know how to do. Mynights are haunted if I don’t heed those wake-up calls. They’re meant to warn, notdestroy. Like a skin of ice on the dog’swater, they melt when I focus my attentionon what is pushing my panic button. I seekhelp. Answers are there somewhere. Oncefound, the ice thaws. Then I sleep wellagain. My spirit proves resilient, like grassflattened by a car that rises up again. Growing things are bent on life, as I amaimed at my own success. These disturbingcalls merely insist that I get to work,whether I want to or not.

About Me

I write mystery novels, poetry, autobiographical books, reviews and articles. My Hoganvillaea Farm provides about half my food. I sell eggs and figs. My newest book, Grace: A China Diary, 1910-16 came out April 12, 2017. The next Penny Weaver mystery comes out June 1,2017: Political Peaches. Formaldehyde, Rooster (2016, Nuclear Apples? The Third Penny Weaver Mystery, 2016. The Sands of Gower: The First Penny Weaver Mystery (2015), Haw (2016): The Second Penny Weaver Mystery. Killer Frost (2012) and Farm Fresh and Fatal (2013) will be re-published in 2017 This River: An Epic Love Poem came out from Wild Embers Press in 2014. You may order all the books from me, as well as my poetry chapbook Beaver Soul (Finishing Line Press, 2013) and This River:An Epic Love Poem (2014): PO Box 253, Moncure, NC 27559 mysteries cost $16, with postage, $19;Grace costs $28, $30 if mailed. Beaver Soul is $13; $16 if mailed. This River is $15 if picked up, $18 if mailed. My PMZ Poor Woman's Cookbook: Vegetarian Recipes for Survival and Health in the Menopausal and Post-Menopausal Years. $10; $13 if mailed. I hold the copyright to all the material on my blog, which I've written.